C. Hari Shankar, J. - (1.) This appeal, at the instance of the Additional Director General (Adjudication), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) (hereinafter referred to as "the ADG, DRI"), assails Final Order No. 51470/2019, dated 13th November, 2019, passed by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as "CESTAT") in Customs Appeal No. 52593 of 2019 which, in turn, was preferred, before the learned Tribunal against Order-in-Original, dated 4th October, 2019 passed by the appellant.
(2.) Vide order dated 29th January, 2020, this appeal was admitted on the following substantial questions of law: "(i) Whether the CESTAT can substitute its view for the discretion of the Adjudicating Authority U/S 110A? (ii) Whether the appellate jurisdiction of the CESTAT against an order passed u/s 110A is restricted to examining whether such an order has been passed after duly considering the law in respect of provisional release and not pass arbitrarily? (iii) Whether the appellant is entitled to provisional release of the seized gold in question in view of the facts and circumstances of this case?" Though, as noted hereinabove, three questions of law were framed by this Court, Question No. (iii) effectively subsumes Questions No. (i) and (ii). A Brief Factual Overview Relevant statutory provisions/Notifications
(3.) Exemption to imports under Advance Authorisation scheme 3.1 Notification 18/2015-Cus, issued under Section 25(1) of the Customs Act, exempts, completely, from all Customs duties, materials imported into India against a valid Advance Authorisation issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in terms of para 4.03 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 (hereinafter referred to as "the FTP"), subject to following the procedure prescribed in the Notification. 3.2 The Advance Authorisation Scheme is one of the export promotion schemes, contained in the FTP, and contemplates allowing of duty-free imports, under a valid Advance Authorisation issued by the DGFT. Para 4.03(a) of the FTP reads thus: "Advance Authorisation is issued to allow duty free import of input, which is physically incorporated in export product (making normal allowance for wastage). In addition, fuel, oil, catalyst which is consumed / utilized in the process of production of export product, may also be allowed.";